The Wandering Chocoholic

Top o’ the mornin’ to you

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! (And Happy 60th Birthday to my mom, who as far as I know is one of the only people who actually reads this blog. Hi, Mom!)

It occurs to me that I have spent a disproportionately high number of March 17ths on the road. Some of the my more notable St. Paddy’s Day memories in recent years include drinking Irish coffee in a makeshift Irish-pub-for-the-day in Quepos, Costa Rica (2005), live music and pre-skydiving debauchery in Lake Taupo, New Zealand (2006), and making it to the southern end of the world in Punta Arenas, Chile (2009).

Now I can add another memorable St. Paddy’s Day location to the list. While my friends back home were probably drinking green beer and cheering the parade down Ste-Catherine Street, I was making my way from Hue to Hoi An via the spectacular Hai Van Pass.

Fortress and emperors

But first, I last left you in Hue, where a good night’s sleep set me right and I woke up refreshed. The day loomed hot and humid — it went up to the mid-30s, but felt much hotter thanks to 90% relative humidity. We all know how I cope with heat (that is, not too well) but I haven’t really faced much yet on this trip, so I donned my sunscreen and hat, and set off.

I spent the morning visiting Hue’s Imperial Citadel. The Citadel dates back to the 17th century. The Imperial enclosure inside the citadel is known as the “Forbidden City”, same as in Beijing, though much smaller, and generations of emperors of the Nguyen dynasty lived there. While most of the structures were destroyed in the bombings during the Vietnam War and are therefore restorations, a few of them are original. I wandered around the grounds, taking in the big golden Buddha, the opulent interiors, the garden shrubbery shaped like turtles, and the bullet-riddled walls defended by cannons. There was a group of dancers rehearsing what looked like a dance for the upcoming Hue Festival. I also spotted a couple of elephants wandering the grounds; they’d been brought in for the festival. It’s my first time ever seeing elephants, so it’s a shame that they were ones being so blatantly mistreated in captivity. But even so, elephants!

Over the Hai Van Pass

Late morning, I went back to my hostel to grab my bags, and I boarded a minibus for the city of Hoi An. Most traffic to Hoi An goes via a sensibly-built tunnel, but tourists like me tend to prefer to see the views of the mountain pass known as the Hai Van Pass.

Okay, this needs to be said: Jeremy Clarkson is an obnoxious, racist, annoying, pretentious blowhard, but he’s right about one thing: Hai Van Pass is indeed “a deserted ribbon of perfection — one of the best coast roads in the world.” (Well, he’s almost right. That’s accurate except for the “deserted” part. I’d like to think he shares at least part of the blame for that, though.) Anyway, this winding mountain road is 21km in length and boast some of the most spectacular views — and heart-in-mouth moments — of any road in the world.

We wound our way up to nearly 500m, following large trucks around harrowing turns in a poorly-air conditioned minibus that sounded like it was about to break down at any second. It didn’t break down, and we all made it over the pass intact, stopping for photos at a few strategic locations along the way. At one point, we stopped to see some of the fortresses built originally by the French and later used by the South Vietnamese during the American War. There are unexploded land mines still in the area, so you have to stay on the marked footpaths. The touts selling souvenirs apparently had no problem straying off the paths in hopes of making a sale, mind you.

Onwards to Hoi An

An hour or so after coming down from the pass, we stopped off at China Beach and I got to dip my toes in the South China Sea. That’s yet another sea crossed off my bucket list. The beach itself looked rather nice and appealing in the heat, though strong currents keep swimming off the list.

The advantage of taking the tourist bus instead of a direct bus to Hoi An was getting to go over the pass. The disadvantage is, yep, you guessed it, tourist traps! Sure enough, with only a few kilometers to go until Hoi An, we turned off to stop at Marble Mountain. I admit I wasn’t listening all that closely to the explanation, but Marble Mountain is a cluster of mountains made from, yep, marble. You can walk up — or take the elevator that stands out like some futuristic eyesore — to see some temples and pagodas and such. I’m sure they’re nice and all, but I was hot and tired and rather sightseeing’d out for the day, so I just got a soda and did my best to avoid the aggressive touts and merchants, mostly selling marble statues. Anyone fancy a giant marble Buddha for their living room? These folks are more than happy to ship internationally.

We arrived in Hoi An around 5:30 and I checked into my hotel. Yep, I’m splurging on a private hotel room… with a pool, no less! Hey, it’s my vacation, and a hotel room here is cheaper than a hostel dorm bed in most countries.

Hoi An is a charming little town by the river, just a few minutes from Da Nang and with tons of character. It’s famous for its tailor shops, which I do plan to check out tomorrow. But for this evening, after settling in and cleaning up a bit, I made my way down to the happening waterfront with a few of the people from the day’s tour. We were on a mission to find some sort of Irish Pub, or at the very least, green beer. We didn’t manage to find either, but we did easily locate a lovely waterfront restaurant with happy hour specials of two cocktails for less than two dollars. The food wasn’t half bad either.

I’ll be in Hoi An for the next few days, on “vacation from my vacation”. More soon!